Everything I have written about in these last few issues is important, but potentially the most important piece is how the business is structured. The business structure can either prevent or cause headaches. This is agriculture, and we have enough issues to deal with. There are great benefits for putting some pieces in place now to reduce future stress levels.
First of all, is your business set up as a business? Specifically, does it have its own federal identification number? Limited liability companies (LLC) are extremely popular for numerous reasons, and this is the business structure my family utilizes. If you do not have a business entity set up, please contact a lawyer and your accountant to get this done as soon as possible.
No one wants to think about their death, but life insurance is critical for providing financial security to the family or business you leave behind. During some stages of life, a life insurance policy should help cover costs like childcare and lost income for the surviving spouse. For others, a life insurance policy may help relieve business debts. A life insurance policy can also be a way to include any children not involved in the family business in future asset distribution. This is a strategy that works for our family, but it may not work for every situation. Remember that, when doing succession planning, fair is not always equal.
If you or someone in the family business were to become disabled or incapacitated, they may need to live at a long-term care facility. A catastrophic event can change everything, from disrupting work flow to creating financial burdens. This is another difficult conversation, but talk about what would happen if you or someone else in the family needed long-term care, and create a plan before there is a need. As the saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Fill in the gaps
The mindset of “it won’t happen to me” is detrimental to any operation. An injury can sideline a person for days, months, or even years. On many agricultural operations, there is a main person or just a few key leaders running the show. What happens if they are hurt? Who will do the work? How will debt obligations be fulfilled? This is where disability insurance comes in.
I have a good friend who got tangled up in a combine. Fortunately, doctors were able to save her leg, and she will recover. She is lucky, because the situation could have been much worse. We all know those horror stories. She is an integral part of her family’s grain farming operation, and she always wondered why they had been paying this disability insurance premium all these years. Unfortunately, this situation caused her to collect. She has a long recovery ahead of her, but the financial burden has been reduced.
Ease the burden
I enjoyed the opportunity to write about succession planning for family businesses. I have shared what my family has done and where we are today, but this information is simply from our own experience and knowledge. I am not a lawyer, an accountant, or an insurance agent. Our family relies heavily on all of these professionals. It is also important that the professionals on your team have the ability to speak to each other on your business matters. If you do not have a relationship with an accountant, a lawyer, and an insurance agent, start one now. Build the relationships so when you need them, they know your intentions.
These are not easy topics to discuss and they are not supposed to be. But there are critical decisions that must be made. Losing a loved one is hard enough for family and friends to work through. Do not give them another burden to shoulder by not having these business details in place.
The author is the vice president of W.D. Farms LLC in Circleville, Ohio, and blogs as the Ohio Manure Gal.
This article appeared in the May 2026 issue of Journal of Nutrient Management on page 20.
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